There are no untouchables, they aren’t even
In the neighbourhood of the untouchables.
He is an untouchable who under his wife’s
Control insults his parents;
She, an untouchable who, having borne
Many children and now old, hates her husband.
He is an untouchable who, having studied
From a teacher, torments his elders;
She an untouchable who, attracted by other men,
Dislikes her own husband.
He was protected by a master but being
Ungrateful he quarrelled with him. He is an untouchable.
She in poverty scolds her husband every now and then;
She, indeed, is an untouchable.
He is an untouchable who, wallowing in
Sin, has free sex with other women.
She is an untouchable who quarrels,
Argues and is epileptic and evil-natured.
He is an untouchable who, not sympathising
With the distressed, lives without concern.
She who is involved in love-acts in her
Youth, is a real untouchable.
One who knows not the holy waters and
God’s sacred flowers is an untouchable.
She, not engaged in
Other-worldly knowledge hates the sages, is an
untouchable.
He is the greatest untouchable who worships
Not Narayan, father of Brahma.
She is a low untouchable who has abandoned
The real master, Purandar Vitthal.
Translated from the Kannada by Keshav Mutalik